


It's Tuesday (I'm in Love)

by thatsamoireh



Series: Tuesdayverse [1]
Category: Figure Skating RPF, Olympics RPF
Genre: Alternate Universe, Aunt Tessa, Cute Kids, Dogs, F/M, Fluff, Meet-Cute, Uncle Scott
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-26
Updated: 2019-01-26
Packaged: 2019-10-17 06:20:19
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,693
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17555006
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thatsamoireh/pseuds/thatsamoireh
Summary: Scott doesn't know what hits him when a cute little girl bonds with his dog in the park on a Tuesday morning.





	It's Tuesday (I'm in Love)

**Author's Note:**

> Peacefulboo wanted fluffy fic and I do whatever she says, so here we are. 
> 
> It's a meet-cute in the park AU! There's a dog and kids and so much fluff. So much.

Scott collapses in the grass under the shade of a tree. Stanley, his dog, is just as grateful for the break from their run. He pours generously from his water bottle into Stanley’s collapsible water dish, takes a long drink from the bottle himself, and flops back to lay in the cool grass. As he slows his breathing he can hear Stanley drinking beside him before the dog settles down with his head on Scott’s thigh.

He’s just contemplating what to do for lunch when he feels Stanley’s head come up and hears a little voice say, “Hi!”

Scott lifts his head to find a little girl, maybe four or so, decked out in a “Pugs and Kisses” tee shirt smiling at his dog. “Hi puppy,” she says, reaching toward him before pausing and seeming to remember something. She turns to Scott as if just noticing he’s there and asks politely, “Can I pet your dog, please?”

The little girl and Stanley, who has now sat up and begun to wag his tail, stare eagerly at each other, both more than ready for the petting to commence but both minding their manners until he gives the okay. It’s adorable and Scott’s fine with it but he sits up and scans the park for the girl’s parents first. He spots a woman pushing a stroller at a speed walking pace down the path toward them, her eyes on his new little visitor. The girl must have run ahead when she saw his dog. From his experience with his nephews and nieces and the kids at the rink he recognizes the nervous exasperation of chasing a preschooler in public but she doesn’t look panicked, so he turns back.

“You sure can. His name is Stanley, and he'd love that.”

The girl grins and strokes the brown and white boxer mix gently down his back while he happily soaks up the attention.

“Poppy!” the woman, whom Scott assumes must be her mom, says firmly, guiding the stroller off the paved path across the grass to Scott’s tree. Inside is a baby girl who looks to be about one, chewing contently on a set of over-sized baby keys on a ring tethered to her stroller. “Remember how we talked about staying close to me when we were out?”

“Oops,” Poppy says, but then Stanley starts licking her fingers and she dissolves into giggles, safety reminder forgotten.

“I’m so sorry to have bothered you,” the woman apologizes. She seems sincerely concerned to have interrupted his internal debate between a sandwich and leftover lasagna for lunch. 

“Are you kidding?” Scott grins, gesturing to the scene beside him. “Stanley lives for this. We’re happy to make the sacrifice, since I’m guessing Miss Pugs and Kisses here lives for it too?”

He feels a rush of pride at the burst of bright laughter he surprises out of her. It’s bigger and louder than he would have expected and he wouldn’t mind hearing it again. 

“Go like this,” Scott instructs, showing Poppy a circular hand motion in the air. Poppy copies him, and Stanley flips onto his back as he’s been trained, exposing his belly for rubbing. Poppy and the baby both squeal and Tessa laughs again. She’s got beautiful green eyes.

They watch for a few more minutes as Stanley tries every trick in his book to shamelessly get more affection from the doting little girl. It works. 

“Alright, let’s go Pops,” the woman says eventually. “We’ve taken up enough of this nice man’s time. Say thank you.”

Poppy pats Stanley on the head, leans in so they’re nose to nose, and very seriously says to the dog, “Thank you.”

Scott can’t help the laugh that escapes, completely charmed by this kid.

Laughing too, the woman mouths thank you to him while taking Poppy’s hand and getting them back on the paved path they’d been taking before their little detour. 

Scott watches after them, lunch forgotten.

 

\----------

 

One week later, he’s sitting in the grass leaning back against the trunk of the same tree eating a protein bar and occasionally glancing at the path. For no particular reason at all. Nope.

He’d met them on Tuesday last week and timed his run on Wednesday morning in hopes of maybe seeing her again, with no luck. She was beautiful and her kids were adorable and she wasn’t wearing a ring and he can’t believe he didn’t even introduce himself or find out her name. 

His next best hope was that maybe it was a weekly family outing, so here he and Stanley are under his tree at 10:00am on a Tuesday again and he promises himself that if he doesn’t see her in the next 15 minutes he’ll give up and start the run back home. 

Then he hears, “Stanley!” and sees Poppy running down the path toward them. Stanley jumps to his feet, tail thumping against Scott’s arm. 

Poppy drops down criss-cross applesauce in front of the dog, glances at Scott, who nods, and then commences scratching Stanley behind his ears.

The woman, he’s definitely going to ask for her name today and introduce himself properly, he _is_ , follows a few moments later with the stroller. She’s walking at a much slower pace today, not so worried about Poppy running ahead of her to talk to strangers. “Hello again,” she greets him, both of them laughing when the baby chimes in with, “Hi!”

“Hi there.” 

“I was hoping we might see you today,” the woman says. She was? Scott had hoped he’d made an impression on her too of course, but it’s great to hear her say it. “Poppy hasn’t stopped talking all week about the dog she met at the park.”

Ouch. He feels that one right in the ego, but then her smile transforms a little at the edges and he thinks that maybe it wasn’t _entirely_ about her daughter’s friendship with his dog. He can live with that hope. 

Poppy takes off her over-sized sunglasses and hands them to her mom so Stanley can lick her face properly. She puts them in a pocket on the stroller and slips her own sunglasses up onto her hair. Scott thought he’d be prepared for the green of her eyes this time, but not so much.

It’s then that he notices the three ladies are dressed the same, in jean skirts and pink shirts. Where the woman has pink slip on shoes and a black necklace (and rings, but still not on that finger, he double checks), Poppy has glittery pink sneakers and a black and pink bow on her ponytail, and her baby sister has tiny pink sandals and a headband with a big pink flower. The baby is still wearing her giant sunglasses and she might be one of the cutest things Scott’s ever seen. 

Happy to have Scott’s attention, the baby says, “Fissss!” and offers him her fist full of what he assumes are the goldfish crackers scattered across the stroller tray.

“Why, thank you…” Scott trails off and looks to the woman for the little girl’s name. 

“Violet.”

“Thank you, Violet.” Scott leans forward and pretends to nom her hand. She squeals in delight and thumps the tray with her other fist, sending goldfish skittering into the grass and the depths of the stroller never to be seen again.

“Oops,” Scott cringes sheepishly, then shrugs. “Well, if she’s anything like my nieces and nephews only about twelve percent of those make it into their mouths anyway.”

“And thirty percent of those come back out,” she scrunches up her nose adorably and Scott laughs, because, true.

“Aunt Tessa?” Poppy asks, and those two words are a wealth of information for Scott. Tessa. _Tessa_. And she’s not the girls’ mom, but their aunt. At least she’s Poppy’s aunt. Though banking on the resemblance between the girls, he’d guess they were sisters. “Can Stanley and his friend come to the playground with us?”

Scott grins. He’s never been referred to as Stanley’s friend before. This kid is his favorite.

“Pops, I’m sure… Stanley’s friend…” Tessa stumbles over what to call him and Scott realizes he _still_ hasn’t introduced himself to her.

“Scott.”

“I’m sure Scott,” she continues, and he really likes the way she says his name, “has things to do today, Poppy.”

But since it seems like she’s trying to give him the out and not that she doesn’t want him to join them (which Scott most definitely _does_ want to do) he says, “If it’s okay with Aunt Tessa we’d love to actually. Right, Stan?”

At the sound of his name, Stanley, who had been basking in Poppy’ belly rubs, scrambles to his feet and bounces his front paws up. 

Tessa raises an eyebrow at Scott, as if to ask if he’s sure and not just agreeing to appease Poppy and not make it awkward. He tries to silently answer back that he’s happy to join them (though not _how_ happy, because he _is_ capable of playing it cool sometimes).

“Well off to the playground then,” Tessa laughs, and Scott stands, grabbing the dog’s leash and brushing grass off his shorts.

Stanley sniffs and licks approvingly at Violet’s toes, earning a happy squeal from her at the wet tickle, and takes his rightful place ahead of them with Poppy at his side as they set off on the path.

 

\----------

 

After Poppy comes back to their bench for some water, a snack, and couple pets for Stanley, Tessa fixes her drooping ponytail and sends her back out to play.

“You’re great with them,” Scott says.

“Really?” Tessa asks, smiling a little to herself. Scott nods and gestures to Violet, who is absently patting the arm which is keeping her secure on Tessa’s lap as she leans back against her chest watching the activity on the playground.

Tessa is quiet for a second and then laughs a little, confessing, “I have no idea what I’m doing. The first couple times Casey and Megan left me alone with them I was too scared to even leave the house. They’re just so _little_ , and there’s two of them and one of me and…”

“Outnumbered!” Scott crows, commiserating. “As the only remaining bachelor uncle in my family I’m used to it by now though. Just imagine _five_ on one. Plus my cousins’ kids…”

“Oh wow,” Tessa’s eyes are wide. “I’m still figuring out just two right now. I’m not sure what I was thinking when I agreed to watch them on Tuesdays all summer.”

“That you’re an awesome aunt? And a sucker for your nieces? That’s how my brothers get me every time,” Scott jokes, because while that’s true, Charlie and Danny hardly have to twist Scott’s arm to get him to hang out with their kids. 

“I am,” Tessa agrees. “It was so hard at first, but it’s getting a little easier every week. I’m less and less scared they’re going to suddenly develop deadly food allergies or fall and get hurt or... get eaten by a very friendly dog in the park.”

Stanley’s currently watching Poppy more closely than they are probably, ready to come to her aid if something goes wrong. 

Violet reaches up to tug on her headband where it has twisted and Tessa straightens it out, adjusting the flower.

“I like the whole pink and black theme today, by the way,” Scott says.

“While we were playing dress up this morning, Poppy _insisted_ that we had to match before we left for the park. I only had what I was already wearing so I raided their wardrobes and made it work,” Tessa proudly grins and shrugs.

“It’s a good look,” Scott agrees. 

They spend the next half hour in and out of conversation as Violet demands attention or Poppy flits between playing on the playground and coming to tell Stanley all about it. It’s quiet laughter and good company and the best morning Scott’s had in a long time. 

 

\----------

 

When Charlie called yesterday to ask if he could take the kids for the day since Nicole was sick, Scott’s first thought was how he’d have to miss his meetup with Tessa and the girls. 

But then he remembered he was meeting them at a playground.

Which is how he finds himself under the shade of his tree in the park, applying sunscreen to a wiggling Shea, while Quinn shows him what she learned in dance class this week, and Cruz has an animated (if one-sided) conversation in baby language with Stanley, who sits patiently beside his stroller. 

He’s distracted so he doesn’t see (or hear; Cruz has quite the set of lungs for such a little guy) Tessa and the girls approach until they’re under the tree. He’d expected Poppy to come racing ahead to greet his dog as usual, but instead she’s sticking close to Tessa’s side, a little shy. Undeterred, the dog trots over to her instead, nosing at her hands until she begins to pet him.

“Hi Stanley,” Poppy says, giggling. “Hi Scott.”

“Hi ladies,” Scott says, taking advantage of Shea’s momentary distraction to rub one last swipe of sunscreen across his face. Victory is his.

He stands, scooping Shea up around his middle and holds him sideways under one arm. “Tessa, Poppy, Violet,” he begins the introductions, pointing at each Moir kid in turn. “This is my niece Quinn,” she waves, still dancing, “my littlest nephew Cruz,” who’s now talking to his stuffed lion, “and this guy is Shea.” Scott shifts him a little and Shea, completely used to his dad and uncles carrying him in this position, waves. 

“Guys,” he says to his brother’s kids. “These are my friends Poppy, Violet, and Tessa.”

Shea wiggles to get down and he goes to the other side of Stanley, petting down his back while Poppy scratches his ears. “Hi Pop,” he says to the little girl, and then repeats the words he learned about how to pet animals, as if teaching Poppy now. “Soft. Gentle.”

“Charlie and Nicole needed emergency backup today,” he explains to Tessa, “so I thought we could all go to the playground together? I brought a little picnic to share after, too, if you want to join us.” It’s nothing fancy, just some kid-friendly snacks and he remembers Tessa mentioning the girls didn’t have any allergies, so he hopes it will be okay and a way to make up for springing three more kids on her without notice.

“Yeah! Play!” Shea agrees.

They look at Poppy and she nods too. He looks hopefully at Tessa. With Poppy’s stamp of approval on the plan, she’s in too.

“Do you like to dance?” he can hear Quinn ask the younger girl as they skip ahead to lead the way down the path and as he watches Poppy break through her shyness to answer with an excited twirl he already knows they’ll get along great.

 

\----------

 

The little picnic under the tree is maybe the best idea Scott’s ever had. The kids sitting in a circle and munching on snacks in the shade means a break from chasing them around in the sun. And yes, it gives him more time to talk to Tessa. He learns that she owns the big dress shop downtown (she’s the Virtue in Virtue Bridal) and Scott tells her about coaching kids at his family’s rink. Quinn and Poppy chime in to tell them all about grade 1 and junior kindergarten respectively, lest they feel left out of the grown-ups’ conversation. 

“Can I please have more juice, Aunt Tessa?” Poppy asks, holding out her empty cup.

“Antessa!” Shea shouts, throwing his arms out toward Tessa, and Scott laughs. It’s all one word and sounds more like _ann-ta-SAH_ but Scott’s heard it many times before.

“My other brother Danny’s wife is named Tessa, so these guys also have an Aunt Tessa,” Scott explains. Poppy and Quinn exchange a wide-eyed look, like this is a completely unheard of concept. There can be _two_ Aunt Tessas?

“Antessa!” Shea confirms.

Scott considers. “I don’t think he gets what ‘aunt’ and ‘uncle’ mean yet.” He turns to Shea. “She’s just Tessa, bud. Uncle Danny and Aunt Tessa are Charlotte and Mason’s mommy and daddy, remember?” Shea nods. “Like how I’m Uncle Scott, and...” 

He trails off. Nicole doesn’t have any sisters and her brother isn’t married, so Scott has no other examples of aunts for him. He shrugs. “When I get married, then you’ll have another aunt and this will all make sense.”

“Antessa,” Shea says again, pointing to Tessa. 

It’s silent for a moment and Scott can feel his ears burning but he powers through, joking, “I have a feeling this is just going to be your name now, like how every dog he meets is Stanley.”

“Stan. Lee!” Shea shouts, pointing to the dog. It’s two distinct words when he says it every time, which is the the opposite of the Aunt Tessa thing but Scott loves it because it’s hilarious and it turns his dog into a comic book legend. 

Tessa laughs and Scott really doesn’t think he’ll ever get tired of that sound. “Can I ask why you named him Stanley? It’s an… interesting name for a dog.”

“Like the Cup?” Scott explains. “I may have had some big hockey aspirations as a kid that evolved into hoping every year for it to be the season when the Leafs bring it home.”

“Go Leafs go,” she cheers, grinning.

From her lap, Violet agrees, thrusting her applesauce pouch in the air. “Go!”

With their snacks finished, the bigger kids get restless and Scott digs out a tennis ball and a tugging rope dog toy he’d stashed under the stroller so they can play with Stanley. Violet and Cruz get wiggly soon too, so Scott suggests they swap babies and maybe the novelty will help.

It works like a charm and Violet calms right down, taking him in with wide eyes and patting his cheeks. He looks over to see Tessa making faces at an equally captivated Cruz who’s absently twisting her bracelets. 

Best idea he’s ever had.

 

\----------

 

Scott’s watching the Blue Jays game with Charlie on Friday when he brings it up.

“Hey, is it cool if I take the kids to the park again on Tuesday?” It’s not a weird question; he takes his brother’s kids on Uncle Scott Days all the time.

“I’ll check with Nicole, but yeah, that should be fine.”

“It was fun,” he says, maybe a little too casually.

“Yeah, that’s what I hear,” Charlie grins and Scott knows he’s made a fatal mistake. 

“Quinn’s been telling us about the little girls she played with at the park. Named after flowers or something? Violet and… Pansy?”

“Poppy,” Scott corrects, because in for a pound at this point, right?

“At first I thought there were just the two, and then,” Charlie pauses for dramatic effect and Scott hates being the youngest brother sometimes. “And then she mentioned a Tessa. So I asked who that was and do you know what she said?”

Scott pretends to think for a second and then points his beer bottle at his brother. “Dad, you’re being a pain in Uncle Scott’s ass so fuck off?” 

Charlie laughs. “She said, ‘Oh she’s Uncle Scott’s new friend.’”

Scott really, really loves his niece, he reminds himself.

Charlie leans forward to set down his empty bottle and puts a hand to his chest like he’s scandalized. “Scott, are you using my children to pick up a woman?” 

“You called _me_ to babysit, remember?” he defends himself, because that part is true. There wasn’t a grand plan involving the kids, it just sort of happened. Still, there’s no point trying to hide anything from his brothers, they can read him like a book. “She watches her nieces on Tuesdays and the kids all had fun at the playground together.” He shrugs. “It’s not as creepy as it all sounds. I just want to get to know her more.”

“Hey I’m not saying you _can’t_ use my kids as wingmen. Wingpeople,” Charlie clarifies, and Scott silently agrees because Quinn has definitely done her part. “Only that I intend to enjoy the hell out of giving you shit about it.”

Scott rolls his eyes and flips him off, grabs his empty, and goes to the kitchen to get them both another, trailed by Charlie’s laughter.

 

\----------

 

Tessa is already laughing by the time she rolls Violet up to his tree the next Tuesday. Scott beams proudly. Mission accomplished.

As the kids were finishing breakfast that morning (Charlie was at work and Nicole took advantage of the free babysitting to go to brunch with a friend), Scott decided it would be funny to show up at the park all dressed alike, as Tessa and the girls had two weeks before. (Totally to be the coolest Uncle ever, and definitely not at all for the singular hopeful purpose of making Tessa smile. Nope.)

Looking in Quinn’s closet he realized he was in way over his head trying to coordinate outfits for three kids when he barely considers his own clothes everyday. Then suddenly it hit him. Perfect.

Which brings him back to Tessa’s laughter in the park as she takes in their little patriotic display. Quinn’s got on a white Canada shirt and red leggings with little white maple leafs, Shea’s wearing black shorts and a red and white baseball-style shirt designed to look like the flag, and Cruz is rocking a red “I [maple leaf] Canada” shirt and white shorts. (He realized too late that he’s going to regret that. Who puts white shorts on a baby?) Scott stole a red Team Canada shirt and baseball hat from Charlie’s closet to go with the black shorts he was already wearing. He even found a Canadian flag bandana for Stanley. Not a perfectly matching set, but it does the trick.

“I thought it would be funny,” Scott confesses, scratching the back of his neck. “But that was way harder than I thought it was going to be.”

“It’s perfect. I feel like I’m at a Canada Day parade,” Tessa nods approvingly, if a little teasing, and Scott basks in it. “I love it.”

Poppy, who had run ahead again to join Quinn and Shea tossing a toy for Stanley, perks up at that. “Parade?”

She and Quinn quickly organize them into a parade procession toward the playground, with Quinn dancing to lead the way, Shea waving and greeting an imaginary crowd (and the occasional jogger that passes by) next, then Poppy who insists on pushing her sister’s stroller “float”, with Tessa assisting to keep her on track since she can’t really see over the handles. Scott brings up the rear with Cruz’s “float” and he can’t can’t stop grinning at the picture they make, especially when Tessa looks back at him with an equally wide smile. 

 

\----------

 

The kids have been playing for about an hour when Scott catches a familiar unpleasant odor as he helps Cruz to the top of a baby slide shaped like an open-mouthed hippo.

“Oof,” Scott says, scooping him up as he gets to the bottom. “Okay, little man needs a change. You want me to take Violet too and do double duty, Tess?”

Tessa opens her mouth but Scott cuts her off, bumping her shoulder with his own.

“Yes, I know I said ‘doody’,” he rolls his eyes and Tessa snorts on a laugh. Glancing at Violet, they both see she’s napping and waking her up would be a bad idea. “I’m gonna take him into the shade over there,” he points to a tree about ten meters away, “so the ground’s a little cooler for him.”

He can see the wild look in Tessa’s eyes at the thought of being left alone with four kids. “Hey,” he says, softly. “You got this.” 

Scott turns to call toward the playground, “Q!” Quinn’s head pops up over the top of a pirate ship climbing structure. “Help watch your brother and Poppy for a minute? Tessa will be right here, okay?”

“Yep!” Quinn nods and half-climbs, half-jumps down, heading over to where the two younger kids are spinning large plastic cylinders with different feet, bodies, and heads to match up. Tessa looks relieved that their feet are all on the ground for the time being.

“See?” Scott holds out Cruz’s hand for a fist bump. “You got this.”

“I got this,” Tessa takes a deep breath and nods, bumping Cruz’s tiny fist.

Scott grabs a diaper, wipes, and a spare pair of shorts, changes Cruz in the shade, cleans his hands, does away with the dirty diaper, and is back within ten minutes.

“No one is crying or bleeding,” Tessa reports, her smirk trying to disguise the pride Scott can tell she feels about accomplishing this small (huge) thing.

He holds up one of his hands and one of Cruz’s for a double high five. They’re terrible at coordinating it and mostly miss connecting on both, but the attempt is there.

They make a good team.

 

\----------

 

They have another snack picnic under the tree that day. Tessa brought apple slices and string cheese to add to the spread this week and a big, soft blanket for them all to sit on. 

Scott could get used to this.

He bites the bullet and invites the Virtue women to Shea’s second birthday party on Saturday, hoping that they’re free. It’s going to be a good old fashioned Moir backyard barbeque. There will be plenty of food, lots of games, and there are usually water balloons and sprinklers involved in the summer so he tells her to bring swimsuits and an extra change of clothes.

She thinks she can make it, but she needs to check with Casey and Megan about the girls. They exchange numbers so she can confirm and he can send her his parents’ address for the party.

He’ll get the expected ribbing when his brothers find out they’ll finally get to meet the mysterious Tessa from the park, but he gets to see her again in four days instead of seven so nothing can bring him down. 

 

\----------

 

Scott’s talking to his brothers by the beer coolers when he spots Tessa, Poppy, and Violet coming around the side of the house and into the yard. Tessa’s carrying Violet and Poppy’s carrying a wrapped present. The little girl lights up at the bustle of activity in the yard.

Scott waves them over. “Is that for me?” he teases Poppy, making grabby hands. 

“No, Scott!” she giggles, holding the gift to her chest. “I picked this for Shea all by myself.”

Scott points her in the direction of the gift table where his Aunt Carol is rearranging them to make more room and she runs off to add it to the pile.

He’s just about to introduce Tessa and Violet to his brothers (as if they don’t already know) when the birthday boy comes barreling toward his daddy but stops in his tracks, seeing the Virtues. 

Scott can feel in bones what’s about to happen but it’s like a slow motion train wreck that he can’t stop. He really should have seen this coming.

Shea bounds over, wraps himself around Tessa’s leg, and shouts, “Antessa!”

The Moir men all well know what that means in Shea-speak so Danny’s eyebrows shoot up to his hairline and Charlie looks like Christmas came early. Scott gets momentarily distracted by the pretty flush creeping down Tessa’s neck (this is a children’s birthday party Moir, get it together).

“Shea seems to think that all Tessas are ‘Aunt Tessa’s so we’ve just been… going with it?” Scott explains, exchanging a look with Tessa that’s part checking in, part private joke which must go on a little too long because Charlie chimes in, sounding a little too pleased for it to be any good for Scott.

“Is that so?” Charlie grins, looking back and forth between them. 

“Come on then,” Danny says, extending his arm to lead Tessa and Violet in the direction of the patio where several of the Moir women are gathered. “I’m Danny, Scott’s oldest and wisest brother. You have to meet _my_ Tessa.”

When she’s a few steps ahead of him, Danny shoots a look back at Scott that’s less teasing and more approving. 

He always liked Danny best.

 

\----------

 

They’ve been talking to Scott’s mom (“Call me Alma, hon.”) for awhile when she finally has enough.

“I can’t take it anymore,” Alma interrupts. “I’ve been itching to hold this precious girl since you got here. May I?” 

“Oh, of course,” Tessa says, and Scott feels something warm in his chest at how this fiercely protective aunt has no hesitation feeling comfortable around his family.

“Come here, angel,” Alma coos and Violet goes happily, babbling away. His mom makes an approving noise and continues the conversion as if she understood, “Well, is that so?”

Tessa and Scott exchange grins. Once a grandma, always a grandma, and Alma loves babies.

She’s already taking off across the lawn and calls back over her shoulder, “I promise I’ll come find you if anything is wrong, but go get some food while your hands are free!”

That _is_ a good idea, so after scanning the yard to double check Poppy is still playing games with the little kids and being supervised by Nicole and Cara, they go make plates, grab drinks, and sit at one of the tables set up on the patio. 

Scott teasingly slaps at Tessa’s hand for reaching her fork across to steal some of his mac and cheese. He hasn’t even had any yet and it’s not his fault she didn’t get some for herself. She evades him, moaning an exaggerated, “Mmmm,” around her forkful and Scott’s thoughts suddenly take a turn for the decidedly not kid-friendly. 

It’s then that he realizes this is the first time they’ve been together and not had a single niece or nephew to be watching. All the kids are safely under someone else’s care and there’s nothing to split his focus. Scott revels in that for a moment, and either she’s having the same realization or he’s giving away a little too much on his face. She smiles down at her plate and then after a fortifying breath, back up at him.

“Hi,” she whispers.

“Hi T,” he whispers back, nudging his plate closer so she can take another bite of his mac n cheese.

 

\----------

 

There are presents and cake and water balloons as promised. Scott keeps an eye on Poppy (and the other on Tessa, as always) while she plays with the bigger kids in the sprinkler so Tessa can help Violet splash and play in the kiddie pool. 

After the water games are done, Scott has his feet in the sandbox helping Mason and Shea build little mountains to roll their trucks across and tag-teaming with Tessa to keep Violet from eating sand. 

“Aunt Tessa, look!” Poppy says, pointing to where she’s very carefully written her name in the sand.

“Great job, Pops!” Tessa praises her, suitably impressed.

“Now you write your name,” Poppy insists, and Tessa does, spelling it out loud as she goes for Poppy’s benefit. “T-E-S-S-A.”

“And write Scott,” Poppy instructs next. Scott watches as Tessa writes his name just below her own. “S-C-O-T-T.”

As she finishes the second _T_ , Tessa lifts her eyes to his and he’s not imagining it at all this time, the moment is definitely charged. He wants to lean over and kiss her _right now_.

“Now spell cupcake!” The moment is broken (but not shattered; he can see the promise of _later_ in her eyes before she looks back down to the sand) by Poppy’s next request. 

Violet tries to sneak another fistful of sand and Scott automatically reaches to stop her at the same time Tessa does with the hand not forming the _P_ in cupcake. Scott sufficiently distracts the baby with a plastic sand rake and can’t resist a squeeze to Tessa’s hand before releasing it. 

If the _A_ she’s writing goes a little crooked, Scott just smiles to himself and doesn’t say a thing.

 

\----------

 

A couple hours later the party is beginning to wind down as all the kids (and some of the adults) are starting to flag from a day of good food and sunshine.

Violet’s asleep against Tessa’s shoulder so after her round quiet of goodbyes to all the Moirs, Scott grabs Tessa’s backpack, purse, and their wet towels and helps the Virtue women to their car. He loads up the trunk and leans in across the driver’s seat to start the car with the keys she’d handed him to get the air conditioning flowing, while Tessa buckles Violet into her carseat. She double checks on Poppy’s own buckling job in her booster and shuts the back door, turning to Scott.

They’re more or less alone now and Scott can’t wait another minute. He reaches for her hips to draw her in and she comes willingly, wrapping her arms around his neck. He tips his forehead down to meet hers and they stay like that for a moment, soaking in the closeness. 

Their lips come together softly. He’s not sure which one of them moves first and he doesn’t care. It’s slow and sweet, because with the girls in the car an his family nearby, now is not the time to explore the way he wishes he could. 

And wants to. Very soon. 

“Meet me by our tree?” he asks, pulling back just enough to say it softly.

“Yep,” she says. He can feel more than see her nod.

“Tomorrow?” he asks.

She looks up at him, confused. “But I only have the girls on-“

“I know, Tess” he says, and Tessa smiles, finally getting it.

She leans up to press a small kiss against his lips. Scott chases her mouth for one more, a little deeper than he probably should but he can’t help himself, before she pulls away reluctantly to get into the car.

“Tomorrow,” she says out the rolled down window, like a promise.

Tomorrow. By their tree. It’s a date.

**Author's Note:**

> I finally finished a fic in this fandom! Huge thanks to peacefulboo for the beta and for endlessly cheerleading me in this and my many WIPs. 
> 
> You may have noticed that real-life Tessa doesn't have a niece named Violet. I needed her to feel a little overwhelmed at the beginning and the 2-on-1 ratio of nieces made it work. And now I'm in love with Violet. Oops? I fiddled with the ages of Scott's nephews too, but it was for the good of the fic, I swear.
> 
> In my mind, Stanley is Chris Evans' dog, Dodger. Look him up; I promise you won't regret it.
> 
> I make no promises but I have a growing list of ideas for more fics in this universe. If you have any prompts or if you just want to say hi, I'm thatsamoireh on tumblr too.


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